Dr. Martin Thullner
Contact
Dr. Martin Thullner
since March 2022 my main affiliation is
Sub-Department 2.3: Groundwater Resources - Quality and Dynamics
Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR)
Stilleweg 2, 30655 Hannover
Phone: ++49 - (0)511 - 643 3077
martin.thullner@bgr.de
at UFZ:
Guest Scientist, former Head of
Working Group Geomicrobial Reactive Transport Systems
Department of Environmental Microbiology
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ
Permoserstr. 15, D-04318 Leipzig, Germany
martin.thullner@ufz.de

Research Interests
My research activities focus on reactive transport modeling of subsurface environments. Of particular interest are biogeochemical/geomicrobial processes involved in the microbial degradation of organic carbon species (contaminants or natural organic matter) in aquifers, soils or aquatic sediments. Research topics include- microbial community dynamics and their implication on biogeochemical reactions
- limitation of microbial activity due to mass transfer processes (bioavailability)
- upscaling of pore scale processes to the macro scale
- microbially induced isotope fractionation
- competition between organic carbon degradation pathways in redox stratified systems
- influence of microbial growth on hydraulic properties of porous media (bioclogging)
Former UFZ Research Activity
see group page
Geomicrobial Reactive Transport Systems
Model Development and Environmental Applications
(GReaT MoDE)
Education
2013
Senior University Research Qualification and Basic University Teaching Qualification, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
2002
Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Department of Environmental Science, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
1997
M.Sc. in Physics, Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Ruprecht-Karls-University, Heidelberg, Germany
CV / Scientific Career
since 2022
Senior Research Associate, Sub-Department 2.3: Groundwater Resources - Quality and Dynamics, Federal Institute of Geosciences and Natural Resources, Hannover, Germany and
Guest Scientist, Department of Environmental Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
since 2013
Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Waterloo, Canada
2005-2022
Senior Research Associate, Department of Environmental Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
2007-2019
Assistant Professor, Department of Earth Sciences - Geochemistry, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
2003-2005
Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Earth Sciences - Geochemistry, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
2002-2003
Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
Recent Publications
- Gharasoo, M., Elsner, M., van Cappellen, P., Thullner, M. (2022):
Pore-scale heterogeneities improve the degradation of a self-inhibiting substrate: Insights from reactive transport modeling
Environ. Sci. Technol. 56 (18), 13008 - 13018
Volltext (DOI) - Khan, A.M., Gharasoo, M., Wick, L.Y., Thullner, M. (2022):
Phase-specific stable isotope fractionation effects during combined gas-liquid phase exchange and biodegradation
Environ. Pollut. 309 , art. 119737
Volltext (DOI) - Khurana, S., Heße, F., Hildebrandt, A., Thullner, M. (2022):
Predicting the impact of spatial heterogeneity on microbially mediated nutrient cycling in the subsurface
Biogeosciences 19 (3), 665 - 688
Volltext (DOI) - Khurana, S., Heße, F., Hildebrandt, A., Thullner, M. (2022):
Should we worry about surficial dynamics when assessing nutrient cycling in the groundwater?
Front. Water 4 , art. 780297
Volltext (DOI) - Schwarz, E., Khurana, S., Chakrawal, A., Chavez Rodriguez, L., Wirsching, J., Streck, T., Manzoni, S., Thullner, M., Pagel, H. (2022):
Spatial control of microbial pesticide degradation in soil: A model-based scenario analysis
Environ. Sci. Technol. 56 (20), 14427 - 14438
Volltext (DOI) - Sun, F., Mellage, A., Wang, Z., Bakkour, R., Griebler, C., Thullner, M., Cirpka, O.A., Elsner, M. (2022):
Toward improved bioremediation strategies: Response of BAM-degradation activity to concentration and flow changes in an inoculated bench-scale sediment tank
Environ. Sci. Technol. 56 (7), 4050 - 4061
Volltext (DOI) - Golparvar, A., Kästner, M., Thullner, M. (2021):
Pore-scale modeling of microbial activity: What we have and what we need
Vadose Zone J. 20 (1), e20087
Volltext (DOI) - Sun, F., Mellage, A., Gharasoo, M., Melsbach, A., Cao, X., Zimmermann, R., Griebler, C., Thullner, M., Cirpka, O.A., Elsner, M. (2021):
Mass-transfer-limited biodegradation at low concentrations—Evidence from reactive transport modeling of isotope profiles in a bench-scale aquifer
Environ. Sci. Technol. 55 (11), 7386 - 7397
Volltext (DOI) - Sun, F., Peters, J., Thullner, M., Cirpka, O.A., Elsner, M. (2021):
Magnitude of diffusion- and transverse dispersion-induced isotope fractionation of organic compounds in aqueous systems
Environ. Sci. Technol. 55 (8), 4772 - 4782
Volltext (DOI) - Calabrese, F., Voloshynovska, I., Musat, F., Thullner, M., Schlömann, M., Richnow, H.H., Lambrecht, J., Müller, S., Wick, L.Y., Musat, N., Stryhanyuk, H. (2019):
Quantitation and comparison of phenotypic heterogeneity among single cells of monoclonal microbial populations
Front. Microbiol. 10 , art. 2814
Volltext (DOI) - Druhan, J.L., Winnick, M.J., Thullner, M. (2019):
Stable isotope fractionation by transport and transformation
In: Druhan, J., Tournassat, C. (eds.)
Reactive transport in natural and engineered systems
Rev. Mineral. Geochem. 85
Mineralogical Society of America (MSA) ; Geochemical Society , Chantilly, VA , p. 239 - 264
Volltext (DOI) - König, S., Köhnke, M.C., Firle, A.-L., Banitz, T., Centler, F., Frank, K., Thullner, M. (2019):
Disturbance size can be compensated for by spatial fragmentation in soil microbial ecosystems
Front. Ecol. Evol. 7 , art. 290
Volltext (DOI) - Thullner, M., Regnier, P. (2019):
Microbial controls on the biogeochemical dynamics in the subsurface
In: Druhan, J., Tournassat, C. (eds.)
Reactive transport in natural and engineered systems
Rev. Mineral. Geochem. 85
Mineralogical Society of America (MSA) ; Geochemical Society , Chantilly, VA , p. 265 - 302
Volltext (DOI) - Khan, A.M., Wick, L.Y., Thullner, M. (2018):
Applying the Rayleigh approach for stable isotope-based analysis of VOC biodegradation in diffusion-dominated systems
Environ. Sci. Technol. 52 (14), 7785 - 7795
Volltext (DOI) - König, S., Worrich, A., Banitz, T., Centler, F., Harms, H., Kästner, M., Miltner, A., Wick, L.Y., Thullner, M., Frank, K. (2018):
Spatiotemporal disturbance characteristics determine functional stability and collapse risk of simulated microbial ecosystems
Sci. Rep. 8 , art. 9488
Volltext (DOI) - König, S., Worrich, A., Banitz, T., Harms, H., Kästner, M., Miltner, A., Wick, L.Y., Frank, K., Thullner, M., Centler, F. (2018):
Functional resistance to recurrent spatially heterogeneous disturbances is facilitated by increased activity of surviving bacteria in a virtual ecosystem
Front. Microbiol. 9 , art. 734
Volltext (DOI) - Newcomer, M.E., Hubbard, S.S., Fleckenstein, J.H., Maier, U., Schmidt, C., Thullner, M., Ulrich, C., Flipo, F., Rubin, Y. (2018):
Influence of hydrological perturbations and riverbed sediment characteristics on hyporheic zone respiration of CO2 and N2
J. Geophys. Res.-Biogeosci. 123 (3), 902 - 922
Volltext (DOI) - Schmidt, S.I., Kreft, J.-U., Mackay, R., Picioreanu, C., Thullner, M. (2018):
Elucidating the impact of micro-scale heterogeneous bacterial distribution on biodegradation
Adv. Water Resour. 116 , 67 - 76
Volltext (DOI) - Thullner, M., Stefanakis, A.I., Dehestani, S. (2018):
Constructed wetlands treating water contaminated with organic hydrocarbons
In: Stefanakis, A.I. (ed.)
Constructed wetlands for industrial wastewater treatment
Wiley, Hoboken, NJ, p. 43 - 63
Volltext (DOI)